Waldo's Chicken & Beer unlocked its doors at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29, and within 15 minutes the dining room was full, according to the Shelby County Reporter. It was the first restaurant to open at Valley Post since the whole district went dark in April.
Valley Post first opened on Dec. 1, 2025, with four restaurants from a single company, Pihakis Restaurant Group. All four closed together on April 27, 2026. This time, each of the four buildings at 1012 Dunnavant Valley Road has a different operator. That's why the district is coming back on four separate schedules, and why a visit this winter depends on which building you're headed to.
One opening day has turned into several
The first time around, Valley Post was one company's project, and its restaurants opened and closed together. The second round has already been spread over months:
- Dec. 1, 2025: Valley Post opens with Hero Diner, Little Donkey, Luca & Lucy and Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ.
- April 27, 2026: All four restaurants close.
- Sept. 29, 2026: Waldo's Chicken & Beer opens in the former Little Donkey building.
- Nov. 9, 2026: SAW's BBQ's scheduled opening day in the former Rodney Scott's building.
- Before the end of 2026: Mo'Bay Beignet & Burger Co. is due in the former Hero Diner space, and an Italian restaurant is lined up for the former Luca & Lucy building.
Developer Mike Mouron, chairman emeritus of Capstone Real Estate Investments, partnered with Pihakis on the original project. He told AL.com that he first pictured Valley Post as a neighborhood gathering spot for Chelsea, built around a showcase of that group's restaurants. He has spent this year finding a new tenant for each building. In early November he told AL.com, "I feel I have all the pieces in place."
The lineup, building by building
| Former tenant | New tenant | Background | Hours or timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Donkey | Waldo's Chicken & Beer | Chicken chain; Valley Post location run by operating partner Casey Atherton | Mon–Fri 11 a.m.–9 p.m.; Sat–Sun 10:30 a.m.–9 p.m. |
| Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ | SAW's BBQ | Homewood's Edgewood neighborhood, 2009 | Mon–Sat 11 a.m.–9 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m.–8 p.m. |
| Hero Diner | Mo'Bay Beignet & Burger Co. | Dauphin Street in Mobile, 2020 | Listed as "Coming Fall/Winter 2026" |
| Luca & Lucy | Italian restaurant | Italian, following Italian | Due by year-end |
Each building now runs on its own schedule. Waldo's opens 30 minutes earlier on weekends than SAW's does, and SAW's closes an hour earlier on Sundays. The original plan placed the restaurant patios around a shared green space, so all four buildings face the same lawn. The hours inside each building no longer match.
Waldo's took the first building back
Waldo's announced its Valley Post location in July under operating partner Casey Atherton. The menu is built around chicken served bone-in, on a bun, in a bowl or in a basket, along with fresh-made sides and beer. There's a kids menu and a bar menu.
The detail most useful for weeknights is the Monday through Friday happy hour from 2 to 6 p.m., with half-price draft beers and $5 Boozy Lemonade, according to Waldo's location page. On weekends Waldo's opens at 10:30 a.m., the earliest of the hours posted so far on the property.
SAW's brings Homewood barbecue down 280
SAW's set Nov. 9 as opening day for its Valley Post location, in the building Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ used to fill. AL.com reports it is the brand's first Shelby County location. Bham Now counts it as the seventh in the Birmingham metro, joining the original on Oxmoor Road in Homewood, SAW's Soul Kitchen in Avondale, SAW's Juke Joint in Crestline, and locations at Riverchase Village in Hoover, in Leeds and on Southside.
SAW's serves smoked pulled pork, chicken and ribs. Its sides include baked potatoes, beans, deviled eggs, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw and banana pudding. Bham Now also notes the Alabama white sauce that helped the brand earn mentions in Southern Living, Garden & Gun and Men's Journal. The Chelsea location puts that menu at the corner of Dunnavant Valley Road and U.S. 280.
Mo'Bay adds the first drive-through
The former Hero Diner space is getting the biggest change in format. Mo'Bay Beignet & Burger Co. combines two Mobile restaurants from founder Jaclyn Robinson, Mo'Bay Beignet Co. and Bay Town Burger Co., under one roof. AL.com reports the Chelsea location will be the first Mo'Bay with a drive-through. The planned menu includes a beignet breakfast sandwich with Conecuh sausage, egg and cheese.
Robinson started Mo'Bay on Dauphin Street in Mobile in 2020 and opened Bay Town Burger Co. the next year. The beignet brand has since grown to two more Mobile locations, plus Huntsville, Hattiesburg near the University of Southern Mississippi, and Truist Stadium in Atlanta. Chelsea will be its first location in the Birmingham area. In a social media announcement quoted by the Shelby County Reporter, the company called it "a location unlike any other that we have had yet."
The menu combines both brands. Bay Town's homestyle smash burger will be there. So will the Beignet Burger, a smash patty and cheese sealed inside scratch-made beignet dough, fried, dusted with powdered sugar and served with a dipping sauce. Mo'Bay's own locations page lists the Chelsea store as "Coming Fall/Winter 2026," and the team has said it's working to open before the end of the year. With beignets, coffee drinks and a breakfast sandwich you can order from the car, this is the building at Valley Post built around breakfast.
Italian goes back into the Luca & Lucy building
Luca & Lucy was the sister restaurant of Luca Logatto in Homewood. The Shelby County Reporter reported in October that the building will stay Italian with a new operator. In November, AL.com said the restaurant is set to open by the end of the year.
Two of the four buildings keep the food they had before, with barbecue following barbecue and Italian following Italian. The other two change format. Hero Diner's space becomes a beignet-and-burger counter with a drive-through, and Little Donkey's building becomes a chicken-and-beer hall.
The rest of 280 is filling in more slowly
Valley Post has refilled in months. The next big projects along the corridor will take longer.
- Target at The Shoppes of Chelsea: Construction began this fall near Chelsea Corners Way and Shelby County Road 47 off U.S. 280. The Shelby County Reporter reported a planned October 2027 opening, with March 2028 possible if the schedule slips.
- Chelsea Plaza at U.S. 280 and Chesser Crane Road: The developer told 280 Living in July that at least two national restaurant chains and one national coffee chain are planned for the center.
Those projects will bring national brands. Valley Post's new lineup comes from closer to home: a barbecue name that started in Homewood, a beignet shop from Dauphin Street in Mobile, and a chicken hall whose Valley Post location has its own operating partner, Casey Atherton. Through the holidays, the Waldo's and SAW's buildings are the ones posting hours, and Mo'Bay's drive-through is the next one on the calendar.
If you're keeping an eye on how Valley Post's comeback is shaping the stretch where Dunnavant Valley Road meets U.S. 280, Mary Bell and the team at Sold by the Bell follow these Chelsea openings closely and are happy to tell you what we're seeing nearby. If you'd like to know what your own home near the corridor is worth, Get Your Instant Home Valuation.
